Meeting Again
by Descending Rival
Summary: Eleven meets Ten Two and Rose for the first time since he said goodbye on the beach. And as glad as he is to see her, it hurts. A lot.


**This is my interpretation of how their meeting will go. Guys, the 50th anniversary is going to hurt so much i cant wait**

The sound of the sonic left a strange echoing noise in the empty room. A basement, actually. And not all that abnormal of a basement either, besides that it was below a rather large building. A bit damp, dim lights. The Doctor was just fixing some power issues upstairs, a surprisingly normal action that was naturally related to very not-normal issues.

He tucked the screwdriver back in his purple jacket, pulling a few wires with his hands, shocking himself in the process, and then swinging the metal door shut.

"There." He said, with a small grin to himself. Time to get back to Clara. Hopefully she was still in the TARDIS, but who knows how far she could've wandered by now.

But he heard something, footsteps coming down the stairs. He spun on his heels, gripping the sonic inside his jacket just in case.

And then he saw her, and then his arms dropped to his sides. Blonde hair. Those full lips. She happened to be wearing a union jack too. In fact, it might have been the very same one, from all those years ago…

Rose. It was Rose.

A laugh escaped from his lips, and a smile spread across his face, uncontrollable as she crossed the room slowly, closing the distance between them.

"Rose Tyler." He said, quietly, happily. She shined her flashlight at him, then cut it off realizing there was no use for it.

"Hello?" She responded, and for a moment, the Doctor didn't even register the confusion in her voice.

"Rose! It's you." He exclaimed, his entire face glowing, his hands making meaningless motions through the air. "It's been so long. I didn't think- I-" He stopped, pressing his lips together, unsure what to say, suddenly unsure if she knew him.

"Doctor!" She called out.

"Yes!" He laughed, and pulled her into a hug. "Yes, it's me. I'm the Doctor. I'm- I'm here. I-" But something was off. Something wasn't right. She wasn't hugging back, and in his excitement, he hadn't even noticed.

He let go, backing up. The look on her face was one of confusion, and he honestly thought it might kill him. She didn't know him. She didn't know who he was. Because when she cried Doctor, she hadn't been calling for him, had she?

"Doctor?" She repeated, this time directly to him, studying his facial features, slowly realizing who he was. He attempted a sad smile.

"I _am_ the Doctor." He said quietly. "But, I'm not your Doctor, am I?" She shook her head, and he could swear he saw tears glinting in the corners of her eyes.

More footsteps brought their eyes to the staircase.

It was strange to see a man who was so him, and yet so not him. Like when you look at a photo of yourself from years ago, and you can't even remember if things were better or worse back then, because everything in your life has just blurred together. And for the Doctor, his life since the Time War seemed like one big blur of loss and rage.

The human Doctor stopped in his tracks at the scene before him. It was all so familiar. That blue suit again. The Doctor had missed the blue suit. Their eyes met for a moment, but neither Doctor said anything. Not a word.

The Time Lord felt his brain rush back to hundreds of years ago, when cold white sand whipped through the air and the wind tugged at his jacket and he had to say goodbye for the last time. The very last time, he had told himself, because that's what Rose deserved, to live her life. Back to when he watched them kiss -and he never had gotten to kiss her, not really- while he stood motionless on the sideline, not letting one ounce of regret, one once of love, one once of jealousy show.

Because, _oh_, he had been so jealous.

And then suddenly he was alone, completely alone in his mind with only five words echoing, over and over and over. _I don't want to go_.

The Doctor forced himself back to reality. There was a reason he pushed those memories to the back of his mind, so they wouldn't consume him.

"What happened to you?" Rose asked quietly. "You're… so angry."

"I'm not angry." He defended immediately, straightening up. But he _was_ angry, so angry, all the time, and he didn't even know why.

"No, no she's right." His duplicate murmured. "You've changed. I never had rage like this. This is something new." The Doctor was quiet, his brow bunched together as his eyes flicked from person to person.

"I died alone." He said finally. "I died alone, and 300 years later, this is me." He spoke slowly. It wasn't a challenge, not quite. But there was something there, some defense of who he was, what he had become.

"I'm sorry if you don't like it." He added, not sounding very sorry at all. So quick to defend himself, wasn't he? He wasn't sure why he bothered.

"'Think I'm actually more astounded by my fashion sense." The human doctor raised an eyebrow, and the Timelord's hands when directly to the small purple bowtie around his neck, straightening it.

"It's _cool_." He defended, straightening up and pulling the purple tweed together, looking far too serious for such a silly action. "Bowties are _cool_." Rose laughed, and it was the first genuine laugh he had heard from her in centuries. He saw it as approval. She was okay with his new self. She thought he was funny. Good. Funny's good.

"'Yeah sure if you say so." She grinned, and he couldn't help but give a half-smile back.

"So!" The Doctor clapped his hands together. "How have you _been_? I always wondered what it was like. Living. Normally, I mean. Being human, I guess. How long has it been? I lose track of time, really. Well actually, I keep very good track of time. I think the trouble comes with traveling through it." He rambling, but what else could he say? Part of him wished he could apologize to his duplicate, apologize for leaving him stranded on the beach, trapped. A Time Lord with no means of travel. It must have been suffocating. But every time he glanced at Rose, he wanted to do anything but.

"It's been good." His duplicate responded. "I've adjusted, mostly. We didn't really even loose the job, either. 'Still can't stay out of trouble. Saving the world every other day." He grinned, and the Doctor almost grinned back.

"Five years." Rose added, laughing a bit again, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear. "Yeah, five years sounds about right." Was that a long time? It didn't seem like a long time. But maybe, maybe to them it was.

Because in the dull room, he saw something reflect the light, a tiny flash of gold and blue. On her hand. Left hand, index finger, a ring. He exhaled, his eyes flitting to the human Doctor, who looked him in the eye with that empty stare and nodded slowly, confirming his thoughts.

Gently, the Time Lord lifted her hand, touching the small sapphire diamond with his index finger.

"TARDIS blue." He mused quietly, then moved his vision from the ring to her eyes. "You're married." He didn't know why he was so surprised. He was married, after all. But somehow it filled him with so much joy and longing and sadness. Because they had gotten everything they could ever want. _She_ had gotten everything she wanted. He couldn't have it, but she could. She could be happy, he told himself.

"Yeah." She looked down, and a smiled spread involuntarily across her face. "'Guess it wasn't completely necessary, but it's like a symbol, ya' know? I lost him- you, I guess- so many times. Donn't want it to happen again." She looked sheepish, and her husband, he just looked sad.

"I'm sorry." He said. And the Doctor was grateful, just for a moment. Because if anyone in the universe could possibly know how he felt, how the sight of the ring ripped him apart inside, brought back every memory of loss, reminded him that he could keep hold of nothing, _nothing_, forever, it was that man. His duplicate long ago, a Time Lord stuck as a human. He pushed the thoughts away again.

"No, _no_, it's fine! It's great." He forced a smile, but his eyes felt hot and wet. Tears. Such a human thing, but here they were in his very not-human eyes. He put his hands on the blonde's shoulders. "I am so, _so_, happy for you, Rose Tyler." And he was.

"I think you've become a terrible liar." She said with a sad laugh. "I _am_ sorry. For you, I mean. I know it's-"

"It's fine. It's brilliant." He said, and he thought it sounded genuine. "I'm married too, you know." His duplicate's ridiculous eyebrows shot up again.

"Really?" Rose asked, and there was a hint jealously in her eyes. The Doctor understood, of course, all too well. She thought he'd moved on, gotten over her, found someone else. He wished there was a way to tell her she was wrong. Because he loved River, he really, truly did. But a small part of his hearts still belonged to Rose.

"You? Married?" The duplicate asked, eyebrows high. "I never thought I was the marrying sort." Rose giggled and elbowed him playful. He kissed her forehead quickly, grinning. The Time Lord made a face.

"Oh, don't _flirt_. Next thing I know you'll be snogging here in front of me." He said, partially joking.

"Sorry." Rose laughed, not sounding very sorry.

"Yes, but _anyway_. Married. I am. It's complicated -"

"Always is."

"It's River actually. You met her. Forward girl, curly hair, library." He made hand motions as he spoke, trying to imitate the shape of River's hair.

"So that's who she was, then. Our wife?" The duplicate asked. "Honestly didn't see that one coming."

"Wife, yes. Well, sort of. Also my murderer, sort of. And my friend's daughter. Sort of. They kind of raised each other I think. It's all very-"

"Timey-Wimey?"

"Exactly." And both Doctors were grinning widely at each other, sharing a moment of amusement that only they could really understand. Hundreds and hundreds of years of the most ridiculous circumstances possible, eventually they just become funny.

Their connection was broken by a rumbling above them.

"What's that?" Asked Rose.  
"That," The Doctor answer, pointing his screwdriver at the ceiling. "is what I came down here to fix. Probably also what you came down here to fix. I failed I think."

"Are those Sontarians I hear?" The human Doctor asked.

"_Think_ so." The Time Lord grinned. "Think we should go sort things out?" He held out both hands, one to Rose, and one to his duplicate. The couple glanced at each other for a moment, and smiled.

And then, all three of them together, they ran.

**Please Read and Review!**


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